Happily Never After (sequel to Stolen Love)

Chapter 1

"Mommy wake up, wake up, wake up!" Abby was jumping up and down on my bed. "It's the first day of school, wake up!" I sat up and looked at the clock. 7:03. 

"Alright. Mommy's going to go take a shower. While I'm gone, wake daddy up." I smiled at my little girl and walked out of the room. 

The water was hot. I loved hot showers. I stood there and let the water hit my chest. I closed my eyes and remembered back to when Alex had proposed 6 years ago. He took me to a fancy restaurant and when they brought us our dessert at the end of the meal, he got down on one knee and held out a ring. Beautiful, gold band with a diamond in the middle. I, of course, said yes, I loved him. 5 months later we were married and about a year after that we had a beautiful daughter. 

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a soft pounding on the door.

"Mommy! Hurry up!" It was Abby. She sure was excited for her first day of school.

I turned the water off and dried off. I opened the door to see Abby standing there. 

"Finally." She sure had a personality too. 

I went to my room to get dressed and walked in to find my husband lying on the bed with his head covered by his pillow. 

"Get up. We have to be at the station in 45 minutes." I finished college when I was 22 and went straight into law enforcement. Over time I fell in love with my partner. We dated for about 2 years before he proposed. A little fast, I know. But we were in love, and we still are. 

I finished getting dressed and walked over to the bed. 

"Go take your shower. I'm going to go give Abby breakfast. We have to leave in a half hour." He groaned so I lifted the pillow off of his head and kissed him. 

"Go!" I yelled at him. Alex got out of bed to go take his shower. 

I walked downstairs to find Abby sitting at the table with her backpack on the floor next to her. 

"Do you have everything you need for school?" I asked her. It was her first day of kindergarten and she couldn't be more excited. 

"Yup. Now can I have breakfast? Please?" 

I grabbed the cereal down from off the fridge. Lucky Charms, her favorite. I poured three bowls before grabbing the milk out of the fridge. 

I handed Abby her bowl as I sat down across from her to start eating. 

"Are you excited?" Of course, I knew she was, but I felt like asking her anyways. 

"I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun. What do you think we will do?"

"Well, I think that because it is the first day, you will meet the teacher and you will play games. Your teacher will probably read to the class. I know that you will have lunch and recess. And at the end of the day, you will ride the bus to Mrs. Smith's house." Mrs. Smith was our neighbor. Nice old lady. She offered to watch Abby for the few hours in between school getting out and me and Alex getting home. 

Just then Alex came around the corner. He grabbed the bowl of cereal I prepared for him and sat down next to me. 

"Are you excited for your first day of school?" He asked Abby with a smile. She rolled her eyes at him and added a little grin. Like I said, personality. She had her very own. 

I finished my cereal and took Abby upstairs to pick out an outfit. We decided on a black and white striped dress. She slipped on her brown boots and we walked into the bathroom. I grabbed the brush to do her hair. I put her long brown hair into a braid and we went back downstairs. 

I saw my husband standing by the door and looked at the clock. 7:45. I grabbed my bag and Abby grabbed hers. I walked her over to Mrs. Smiths's house. 

"The bus will be here in 45 minutes. Don't be late. Mrs. Smith will walk you out to make sure you get out on time. School starts at 9:00 okay?" She nodded her head in response. "I love you," I told her as I gave her a hug. 

"I love you too mommy." 

"I love you, Abby!" Alex shouted from the car. Abby smiled before yelling back.

"I love you, daddy!" 

I gave Abby another hug and left her with Mrs. Smith. I walked back to my husband and we drove off. 10 minutes to be at the station. 

When we arrived we were met with the chief. He called us into his office and we sat down. 

"I've got a new case for you both. We're pretty sure it follows the cases you've been working on." The cases he was referring to was a string of high school girls going missing and being found dead in the woods a few days later. 

"She was just found; got called in this morning." He slid over a case file. Another high school girl, 15 years old. Followed our killer's pattern. Long brown hair. Age and hair color are the only patterns between all the girls. That and how they were being killed; blunt force trauma to the head.